November Rain
by Peter Tupper
Summary: "Some dance to remember, some dance to forget." Slightly AU, written early in the series.


**November Rain**

_by Peter Tupper_

The water closed over June's face as the preacher lowered her into the river. The current flowed around her body, making her white robe swirl, and the chill reached inside her, making her more awake than she ever had been.

For a moment, there was only silence and the light from the summer sky, filtered through the clear river water. Strong hands pulled her up and out, into the air. The preacher's hand released her mouth and nose, and she took a deep breath of sweet air.

"You have died and risen again with Christ, my child," said the preacher standing next to her in the river. "Your sins washed away."

"Yes, praise Jesus," she murmured. She stepped up onto the riverbank where her Mommy and her sisters waited for her with open arms. "We love you, sweetie, and Jesus loves you too." Even Daddy was smiling a little. June cried, happier than she had ever been.

xxx

The water poured into through the car's open windows, and June scrambled for the child-seat in the back. "Katie, oh God,... Baby, where are you?" The water was up to her neck. "Jesus, help me, baby, can you reach me--?" She reached out, felt a tiny hand in the cold water. "_Katie--!_"

xxx

The English woman poured pale green tea from the teapot into one of the two ceramic cups.

"I didn't kill my daughter," June blurted out.

The other woman paused for only a moment. "Yes?"

"I just want to say that. I don't care what the news or the prosecutors or my family or my husband or anybody says. I didn't. Everybody says I wasn't convicted because the police made mistakes. That's not it. I swear to Almighty God, I did not kill my Katie. I would never do that. I loved her. I gave everything to her. I'd never kill my baby, I'd never kill anybody's baby, I'd never kill anyone. Killing's a sin," June said. She pulled the sleeves of her sweater over the white bandages around her wrists, then buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

The English woman passed her a box of tissues. June dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose. "You believe me, right?"

"June, that is not my concern. My only concern is you." She reached into a legal envelope and pulled out a sheaf of paper and a fountain pen. "In exchange for five years of service, my organization will provide you with a new paper identity, a new name, a new face, even fingerprints."

"And no memory. You can do that right?"

"Yes, we can. You will remember being an only child. You will remember your parents dying peacefully of old age. You will not remember ever having had a child. You will have your entire life ahead of you. And you'll have a substantial amount of money."

"I don't care about the money."

"You may do with it as you wish."

June pulled the contract toward her and looked at it. "I'm going to be whoring, right? My body will be whoring."

"Some of the engagements will be sexual in nature, yes."

"I can't go on like this." June picked up the fountain pen and signed. "Forgive me, Lord."

The English woman picked up the contract and replaced it in the envelope. "Please come with me."

June got up and followed her out of the interview room, down a corridor and into another room full of computers. A blond-haired man beckoned her towards a chair.

She stood in front of the chair and turned around, but then something in her changed. "I.... I need help."

"Uh....", the man said.

The English woman put her hands on June's shoulders and lowered her down into the chair. It pressed against her spine and neck. Something whirred and the chair lowered her until she was lying down, with part of the chair wrapped around her head.

June looked up at the other woman bending over her. There was no compassion in her eyes, but no judgment either. "Let's begin," she said.

"Die and rise again with Christ," June whispered, and then brilliant blue light filled her mind.

xxx

"Hello, November. How are you feeling?" the blond man said.

"Did I fall asleep?"

"For a little while."

"Shall I go now?"

"If you like."

She stood up.

A woman in the room said, "November, I want you to meet some new people. You're going to live with them. They're going to be your friends."

November smiled. "That would be nice."

--30--

Note: written before November's backstory or original name had been revealed


End file.
